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C.Q.

Bill Richardson: Creative People Must Engage the Political Process

By Adam Leipzig on August 16, 2012 inLifestyleOUR WORLDRecent Posts

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I caught up with Bill Richardson – the former two-term governor of New Mexico, now Special Envoy for the Organization of American States (OAS), among a host of other involvements, public and private – in Cape Cod, having a brief moment of R&R after a speaking tour in Europe. We discussed the arts and the creative economy.

I’ve got to start by asking you about Paul Ryan…

I do believe it shows that the conservative base has totally captured Mitt Romney, and that it enhances the prospects of President Obama’s re-election, especially with some of the cuts that Ryan symbolizes in the areas of Medicare and Social Security. While he seems to be an attractive candidate, once his ideology is examined I think the American people will see a very extremist point-of-view that is not within the center of American politics.

The American people govern in the center. They want bipartisanship, centrist policies, middle class initiatives, and I believe this pick is very much heading in the other direction.

When you were New Mexico’s governor, you launched breakthrough film incentive initiatives that made your state a destination for filmmaking, and drove economic growth. Today’s state budgets are so strained and lawmakers have to balance between media incentives and real basic needs. On a policy level, how does one do that?

You need to assess the film incentives on their own.

The most important positive coming out of film incentives nationally is that they create jobs, revenue and income. It should not be a choice between human needs and film incentives. That’s how I governed in New Mexico. The film incentives we created brought new digital media and technologies into the state, and trained thousands of people. We went from a crew base of about 200 to about 9,000.

I don’t accept that argument that it’s a question of food for the poor or welfare, versus film incentives. I believe when you incentivize the private sector, you’re creating new jobs, new technology. Plus you’re also providing young kids with opportunities for the future in a clean industry that is only going to expand.

Let’s move from the film industry to the creative community in general. Artists think of themselves as a giant transnational global community. Since 9/11, I and many of my producer colleagues have found it increasingly difficult to get cultural exchange visas.

I believe in general the US government has had a shortsighted policy in limiting visas based on our relationships with other countries. A potential opening for improving relationships with countries like Cuba and North Korea is to expand the artistic and cultural exchanges. They would promote understanding among our peoples – and perhaps, like ping-pong diplomacy, open the doors to better relationships. The new technological wave is healthy, and has resulted in important political strides, such as the Arab Spring, but I regret that it’s affected appreciation for artists, for art in schools, for symphonies, for cultural exchanges.

I’d like to see the US government focus more on cultural exchanges, give it a healthier budget. I know these are tight times, but these are experiments that often come back in valuable, unexpected ways. When you expand the perspective of individuals in the arts, you’re expanding the inner creativity of individual people which will make them more productive, more a part of society, and more a part of the American mainstream.

Government has to be the catalyst, in the small towns of America, enhancing the capability of communities to have arts centers, theatres, all kinds of artistic endeavors, which also bring jobs and economic development.

I agree – the creative economy really has the potential to bring America back. Creativity can’t be outsourced and it creates jobs. But I’ve found there is a knowledge gap, a training gap, between the artists and the marketplace. Many creative people don’t know how to engage in the market economy.

Yes, and I believe the creative community must be more engaged in the political process, too. They have to be more engaged with mainstream small businesses, to show you’re not just creating artistic freedom and excellence; you’re also creating revenues for the economy and jobs.

So what you’re seeing is an education gap that goes both ways. The creative community can’t just say, “Here we are, we’re great, we promote jobs.” The creative community has to engage in a viable political process with the nation. I’d like to see more artists, not just celebrities, involved in lobbying the Congress, their communities, and local chambers of commerce, about the viability of the jobs they create.

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Tagsarts policyBill RichardsonC.Q.creative economyjobspolitics

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Adam Leipzig

Adam Leipzig

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Adam Leipzig is the founder and CEO of MediaU, film school done different. He is Cultural Weekly’s founder and publisher, has worked with more than 10,000 creatives in film, theatre, television, music, dance, poetry, literature, performance, photography, and design. Adam has been a producer, distributor or supervising executive on more than 30 films that have disrupted expectations, including A Plastic Ocean, March of the Penguins, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Dead Poets Society and Titus. His movies have won or been nominated for 10 Academy Awards, 11 BAFTA Awards, 2 Golden Globes, 2 Emmys, 2 Directors Guild Awards, 4 Sundance Awards and 4 Independent Spirit Awards. Adam teaches at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business. He began his career in theatre; Adam was the first professional dramaturg in the United States outside of New York City, and he was one of the founders of the Los Angeles Theatre Center, where he produced more than 300 plays, music, dance, and other events. Adam is CEO of Entertainment Media Partners, a company that navigates creative entrepreneurs through the Hollywood system and beyond, and a keynote speaker. Adam is the former president of National Geographic Films and senior Walt Disney Studios executive. He has also served in senior capacities at CreativeFuture, a non-profit organization that advocates for the creative community. Adam is is the author of ‘Inside Track for Independent Filmmakers ’ and co-author of the all-in-one resource for college students and emerging filmmakers 'Filmmaking in Action: Your Guide to the Skills and Craft' (Macmillan). (Photo by Alexis Rhone Fancher)

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Newer Comments  →
  • Rick Meghiddo

    Yes! It's hard though. The skills most needed are vision, honesty, persuasiveness and long breath, all protected by a thick skin. I tried it (with a thin skin.) Four years as board member of a Long Beach's Redevelopment Agency. When I came in, the word "design" didn't exist in the vocabulary of decision-makers. Results were limited but good: more public art, a three-block promenade with coordination between architects, artists and the bureaucracy and a grater awareness about the economic value of art excellence. In short: it is worth it, but… turning around the government is like turning around an ocean liner. It takes time. Be prepared and good luck!

  • Tom Aageson

    I teach a class annually for economic development professionals in New Mexico and find the terms Cultural Economy and Creative Economy are brand new. In NM, we are pioneering, whereas Massachusetts, Hawaii, Colorado and Louisiana now have offices in these industries. Create Britain is a national policy worth watching. We approach as cultural and creative entrepreneurs &lt ;www.culturalentrepreneur.org> Thanks for catching up with Governor Bill…he was an excellent governor. Tom

  • Stuart Ashman

    The man is a brillian advocate for the arts and truly understands the economic value of the creative sector. The other piece is his appreciation for the arts as an enhancer for the quality of life.
    Glad he's speaking out.

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